Have You Started Hating Math Lately?

Your mind has already developed this idea after years of struggle in the subject (if you do lie within this category of students, you’ll know what we are talking about). Math grades are going down, performance graph in this same subject is also going down both at your school and home…problem? If you only think of it as a problem, there’s no hope to rectify the issue to be honest simple because you are not even trying to search for a solution. Try to develop this mindset where you consider these petty issues as a part of the solution. And do you know what the first step of a solution is? The first step is to understand the problem in detail, to get into the depth of the issue. So here we’ll be highlighting a few reasons due to which you have possibly developed a hidden agenda against mathematics.

Poor elementary math concepts and misconceptions

Math is pretty cumulative. If you are quite shaky on your basic elementary-level math concepts, you will undoubtedly face some difficulty when you are in your high school.

The reason is pretty obvious, isn’t it? This is not a subject where your basic math skills are not required in your higher classes. Higher concepts are based on those elementary concepts, and if you have a problem in the base itself, you’ll have a tough time indeed when you get to that level.

In such cases, you’ll have to rectify your elementary level math misconceptions first and then get on with your advanced math concepts. If you want to take a peek at a few basic level math misconceptions, you can go through this article that’s divided into three parts (Part-1, Part-2, and Part-3).

Many students who are facing a tough time with high school math might say that they have accumulated good marks in their elementary level, and they never faced such difficulty in those grades. There’s no doubt that they do have a point there. The problem is they have undoubtedly learned those basic concepts but have failed to develop the fluency required to apply them to the next level.

A belief that a poor performance in mathematics is socially unacceptable

This point is very valid for students who have developed a sort of math anxiety in schools. The fear of public humiliation develops the hatred of mathematics in students.

This public humiliation can be considered to be a form of thinking of the student or is an actual real-life incident that has inculcated a fear in him/her.

Many students believe that if they ask their teachers to repeat certain math concepts in classes because s/he has failed to comprehend the same concept to the best of his/her abilities, s/he will be laughed upon by his/her classmates or the teacher. They have developed this idea that it’s socially unacceptable to be weak in mathematics. That belief plays a significant role in inculcating the math hatred in students.

Pressure of exams

The pressure of exams comes with the pressure of time. Both have a disastrous effect on the student especially if he’s struggling with math.

As soon as the exam comes knocking on the door, the student tries to cram in as much math homework as possible building up more pressure and if s/he encounters a specific math problem at that exact time, hatred builds up drastically. With the continuation of this practice before each exam, the student develops a natural hatred towards mathematics.

Frustration of parents

Parents tend to display their feelings in front of their children. The outburst of emotions seldom has a positive effect on your kids. Instead, it lowers their self-confidence drastically. And all that rage is channelized to mathematics. Hatred builds up drastically.

So you see that your hatred towards mathematics has been a gradual process with many influences. Now it’s time to bring this article to a close but before signing off, we would say math hatred isn’t part of a major problem. Try to turn into a part of a solution. Professional math tutors can help you out in this matter.

Sudipto Das

Sudipto writes technical and educational content periodically for wizert.com and backs it up with extensive research and relevant examples. He's an avid reader and a tech enthusiast at the same time with a little bit of “Arsenal Football Club” thrown in as well. He's got a B.Tech in Electronics and Instrumentation.
Follow him on twitter @SudiptoDas1993